Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) Upgraded to Buy by B. Riley

B. Riley upgraded shares of Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Friday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm currently has $1,100.00 target price on the semiconductor company’s stock, up from their prior target price of $870.00.

LRCX has been the topic of several other reports. UBS Group raised their price target on Lam Research from $885.00 to $1,130.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Lam Research from $850.00 to $950.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Lam Research in a report on Thursday, April 11th. They issued a hold rating and a $1,000.00 price target on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Lam Research from $950.00 to $1,050.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI began coverage on Lam Research in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. They set an outperform rating and a $1,200.00 price target on the stock. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $931.85.

Lam Research Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of LRCX opened at $868.07 on Friday. Lam Research has a 1 year low of $493.42 and a 1 year high of $1,007.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 3.06 and a quick ratio of 2.02. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $944.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $804.00. The firm has a market cap of $113.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.57, a P/E/G ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 1.51.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The semiconductor company reported $7.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.06 by $0.46. Lam Research had a net margin of 24.15% and a return on equity of 44.47%. The company had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $10.71 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 28.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Lam Research will post 28.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lam Research Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 13th were issued a $2.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 12th. This represents a $8.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.92%. Lam Research’s payout ratio is 30.94%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lam Research news, SVP Seshasayee Varadarajan sold 5,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $922.41, for a total transaction of $5,073,255.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 22,095 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,380,648.95. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Abhijit Y. Talwalkar sold 882 shares of Lam Research stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $972.03, for a total transaction of $857,330.46. Following the sale, the director now owns 10,541 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,246,168.23. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Seshasayee Varadarajan sold 5,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $922.41, for a total transaction of $5,073,255.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 22,095 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,380,648.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 7,029 shares of company stock valued at $6,559,489. 0.32% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lam Research

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. CWM LLC grew its position in Lam Research by 6.1% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,212 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,640,000 after acquiring an additional 242 shares in the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Lam Research by 11.4% in the third quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,833 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $3,656,000 after buying an additional 596 shares during the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management boosted its stake in Lam Research by 1.7% during the third quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 2,248 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,409,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the period. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Lam Research during the third quarter valued at $56,000. Finally, Martin Capital Advisors LLP raised its stake in shares of Lam Research by 1.4% in the third quarter. Martin Capital Advisors LLP now owns 3,180 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,993,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. 84.61% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lam Research Company Profile

Lam Research Corporation designs, manufactures, markets, refurbishes, and services semiconductor processing equipment used in the fabrication of integrated circuits. The company offers ALTUS systems to deposit conformal films for tungsten metallization applications; SABRE electrochemical deposition products for copper interconnect transition that offers copper damascene manufacturing; SOLA ultraviolet thermal processing products for film treatments; and VECTOR plasma-enhanced CVD ALD products.